Özge Karadağ

Dr., Senior Researcher, Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University

Dr. Ozge Karadag works as a Senior Researcher at the Center for Sustainable Development of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. She earned her Medical Doctor (MD) degree from Istanbul University, and her MSc and PhD Degrees in Public Health from Hacettepe University. She also holds a postgraduate degree in health promotion from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Dr. Karadag has more than 15 years of experience working in multidisciplinary teams to conduct research, develop public health policies and programs for different vulnerable/disadvantaged populations. Her main research interests are health care access among vulnerable populations, health promotion and education, community mental health, stigma and discrimination, community participation in health care, and sustainable development. She has worked as a consultant for WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNDP, IOM, and the European Commission in addition to different governmental and non-governmental organizations. Her current work focuses on research, advocacy, and training activities regarding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the most vulnerable populations and how to use digital technologies to increase access to health information and care among refugee and disadvantaged local youth in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. She is a member of The Lancet COVID-19 Commission Scientific Secretariat and one of the experts of the Global Happiness Council, where she co-chairs the Vulnerable Populations Thematic Group.